Days before the deadly terror attack in Pahalgam, intelligence agencies had flagged the potential targeting of tourists especially those staying in hotels on the outskirts of Srinagar in the foothills of the Zabarwan range, officials in the know said Saturday.
Whether it's navigating the labyrinthine Cu Chi Tunnels, boating on the Mekong, marveling at ancient Champa temples, or the Mekong Bay, Vietnam promises a journey like no other.
After a perilous 500-km road journey out of conflict-torn Tehran, stranded Indian tourist Falguni Dey reached Iran's Astara border with Azerbaijan on Tuesday evening, but his ordeal is far from over.
Four recent encounters in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district have exposed the route used by terrorists to infiltrate into India from across the International Border (IB), a senior police officer said. The successful recovery of huge quantities of arms and ammunition, including explosives, after the gunfights has scuttled a major plan of the terror groups to carry out a major strike in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee's (MPC) decision to cut the repo rate by 50 basis points (bps) to 5.5% was contrary to the expectations of many economists. Firstly, most of the economists expected the MPC to cut the repo rate by 25 bps citing the weakening of inflation, prospects of economic growth, geopolitical uncertainty and comfortable system liquidity.
While India today is vastly different from the India of 1975, the need for vigilance against authoritarianism remains the same, asserts Utkarsh Mishra.
The safety and security of citizens is primary for the government, he said.
Many passengers rushed out of an IndiGo aircraft at the Mumbai airport, sat on the tarmac, and some were also seen having food there as soon as their diverted Goa-Delhi flight landed after a long delay on Sunday.
When the country has been at war, the Opposition has buried its differences with the government, points out Aditi Phadnis.
The free food scheme is driven by electoral considerations, but its long-term fiscal risks outweigh the short-term gains, cautions A K Bhattacharya.
In a dramatic turn of events, Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberal Party secured victory in Canada's federal election, overcoming earlier predictions of defeat.
The Bangladeshi national arrested for attacking Saif Ali Khan gained entry into the actor's building by scaling its compound wall and went inside the main entrance after finding the security guards asleep, police said. The Mumbai police recreated the crime scene with the accused at the Satguru Sharan building in Bandra area, where the actor resides. Khan was stabbed repeatedly by the intruder, Shariful Islam Shehzad Mohammad Rohilla Amin Fakir alias Vijay Das, inside his 12-floor apartment in the wee hours of January 16. The actor suffered multiple stab injuries in the attack and underwent an emergency surgery at the Lilavati Hospital. He returned home on Tuesday. The police arrested the accused from neighbouring Thane city on Sunday.
Two types of cabbage give this Chinese rice its crunchy but excellent flavour.
Zwigato urges viewers to think critically about the kind of unethical behaviour that food delivery workers have to put up with on a daily basis because of insensitive customers, observes Chintan Girish Modi.
The government is likely to firm up next week a view on how to go about the food security bill. Indications to this effect were available on Wednesday with the government sources saying a decision will be taken only after Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar's return from Rome where he has gone to attend Food and Agriculture Organisation conference.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Sunday that indigenously developed BrahMos missiles destroyed Pakistani air bases while its air defence system, borrowed from China, remained unused, during Operation Sindoor, which exposed its lies on terrorism to the world.
United States President Joe Biden and other world leaders gathering for the G20 summit in New Delhi will get a taste of lip-smacking Indian street food, including flavourful delicacies from Chandni Chowk, and innovative millet dishes.
Following the stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj early on Wednesday, which killed at least 30 people and injured 60 others, many devotees find themselves trapped due to blocked exit routes and severe traffic jams.
The victim, Rajni Khatri, was working in the bhojanshala (kitchen) when her 'dupatta' (scarf) got caught in a potato-peeling machine.
A day after the Congress reached out to Mulayam Singh Yadav seeking support for passage of the Food Security Bill, the Samajwadi Party on Tuesday decided to support the legislation but will move amendments seeking to give farmers their due for crops and giving more grains per person.
A remote village in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district has been declared a containment zone after 17 people from three families died under suspicious circumstances. Prohibitory orders have been imposed on all public and private gatherings in the area. The village has been divided into three containment zones with varying levels of restrictions. The incident follows a visit by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to the village on Tuesday.
Supporting the food security ordinance, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said his government is taking steps for its implementation but felt bringing it after discussion in Parliament would have been a better option.
People in some border villages of Ferozepur district in Punjab began moving to safer areas amid soaring tensions between India and Pakistan.
The high point of the 19 Shastri months was the 22-day war that he fought against great odds and won in principle, even if military historians often call it a stalemate. Pakistan saw a great opportunity to conquer Kashmir and lost. It was the last time they had the relative strength militarily and diplomatically to take Kashmir. Shastri's resolve buried that dream forever, points out Shekhar Gupta.
A day before the Cabinet considers issuing an ordinance to implement government's ambitious National Food Security Bill, Food Minister K V Thomas said all UPA allies, including Nationalist Congress Party, are on board and there was a consensus on issuing an ordinance.
The bill, considered by many in the Congress as a gamechanger which could boost its prospects in the Lok Sabha election, was tabled in the Budget Session but could not be taken up for discussion as Opposition stalled Parliament over a rash of scams under United Progressive Alliance.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi feels the prime minister should not be bothered about the consequences of an ordinance, as the food security legislation is important for the party's electoral future. Renu Mittal reports.
West Bengal government has expressed surprise at the way the UPA government was rushing through legislation on the Food Security Bill when the general election was "knocking at the door" and without a full-fledged implementation mechanism.
The much-touted Food Security Bill was taken up in Rajya Sabha, with opposition terming it as a "gimmick" with an eye on elections and accusing government of violating constitutional norms by issuing an ordinance when Parliament session was less than a month away.
The heightened global uncertainty due to the US "reciprocal tariffs" on India may cause near-term corrections and market turbulence, but the long-term outlook remains constructive, market experts said on Thursday. The US has announced 27 per cent reciprocal tariffs on India, citing high import duties imposed by New Delhi on American goods.
Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal has congratulated both the previous UPA government and the current dispensation for the extradition of Tahawwur Hussain Rana, the mastermind behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Sibal expressed confidence that the extradition will shed light on the involvement of individuals within Pakistan's establishment in the attacks. Rana is being questioned by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to uncover the full extent of the conspiracy behind the deadly 2008 terror strikes. Sibal highlighted the efforts of the UPA government in establishing the NIA and pursuing Rana's extradition, and also acknowledged the current government's success in bringing him back to India. The interrogation is expected to focus on Rana's potential ties to the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and his role in the Mumbai attacks.
India and New Zealand have signed a pact to institutionalize their defence ties and vowed to boost cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised concerns about anti-India activities by some illegal elements in New Zealand with his Kiwi counterpart Christopher Luxon. The two sides also signed six agreements to enhance cooperation in areas including education, sports, agriculture, and climate change. They also agreed to prepare a roadmap for cooperation in the defence industry sector and explore early implementation of cooperation in the digital payments sector.
Nobel laureate Amartya Sen on Monday sought to blame the opposition for disruption in Parliament, saying they were "bursting debates" and "killing arguments" in the House as he backed the Food Security Bill in its present form.
Amid the Bharatiya Janata Party's sweeping victory in the Delhi assembly polls, Chief Minister Atishi and three ministers in the outgoing Aam Aadmi Party government -- Gopal Rai, Mukesh Ahlawat and Imran Hussain -- managed to secure wins on Saturday, offering a rare consolation for the party as its big guns, including Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, suffered defeats.
In what could come as a piece of good news, hunger in India - as measured by the Prevalence of Undernourishment (PoU) by the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) - has come down from 16.6 per cent of the population in the 2020-2022 to 13.7 per cent in 2021-23, the latest report on the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI 2024) showed. This means that around 39.3 million people have come out of undernourishment between the two periods, NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand said on Tuesday.
A stampede at New Delhi Railway Station on Saturday night claimed 18 lives, including 11 women and 5 children. Thousands of passengers, mostly Maha Kumbh pilgrims, crowded the station to board trains to Prayagraj, leading to a surge of people that became impossible to manage. The chaos unfolded when a last-minute platform change announcement caused confusion and panic, resulting in a crush of people at an escalator. As dawn broke, railway staff began the grim task of cleaning up, while grieving families gathered at the hospital to identify their loved ones.
Two terrorists were killed and five security personnel were injured in a fierce gun battle in a remote forested area of Kathua district in Jammu and Kashmir. The encounter, which involved a group of approximately five terrorists, triggered intense firing and explosions. The gunfight, centered near Jakhole village, resulted in injuries to Special Police Officer Bharat Chalotra, who sustained facial wounds. Three security personnel, including a Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), were reportedly trapped near the gunfight's location. The terrorists were moving through the forest area when a police party headed by an SDPO moved in after getting specific information. Reinforcements from the police, army, and CRPF were immediately deployed to the area.
Citing evolving needs and aspirations of the citizens, he said that the civil service must adapt to contemporary challenges to remain relevant.
Jaishankar said that India is a democratic society and gives nutrition support to 800 million people. He noted that there are parts where democracy is working well and there could be parts where it is not. However, he underscored that it is should not considered a universal phenomenon.
The Bharatiya Kisan Union and the Mahila Aghadi have also opposed.
